MasterPiece

MasterPiece is also extra-long staple Egyptian cotton and as the name suggests it was created for piecing.

It's a very fine thread in plain glowing colours, ideal for flat seams and sharp points. It also works very well in the bobbin. MasterPiece seems to disappear into the fabric which makes it perfect for applique and other hand sewing such as putting on the binding. But it came as something of a surprise to the manufacturers, when professional long arm quilters started using MasterPiece for machine quilting.

This photo shows MasterPiece used for free-motion machine quilting. Despite its fine weight, it is surprisingly strong enough to cope with the demands of professional quilters. And if its OK for the Pros, it's going to be just great for me. The machine quilting detail in the photo was created using a JUKI on a New English Quilter table top frame. I've used MasterPiece here to create a more subtle texture. Notice how it shows up against the two different fabric backgrounds.

This quilt was designed as a thread sampler. Its a stripy quilt with just two fabrics; a plain shot cotton yarn dye and a contrasting batik. The quilting pattern is an overall free-motion mussel shell design. I've kept the background simple and the quilting pattern constant to show how a variety of threads perform against the contrasting background. I'll be using it for other posts, but for now I wanted to highlight the subtle beauty, strength and versatility of MasterPiece thread.

What's in a Name or Fab Fibres

Quilters love cotton. It's our favourite fibre! But all cottons are not equal.

Currently, China, the US, India, Pakistan and Brazil are the world leaders in cotton production. But in terms of quality nothing comes close to Egyptian cotton. Egypt is renowned for producing long fibres of uniform length, which are stronger, finer and have greater elasticity than any other fibre.The long staple or long fiber of Egyptian-grown cotton means that there is more continuous fiber to use when creating threads or yarns.

The King Tut range from Superior Threads is extra-long staple Egyptian cotton. Extra-long staple means that the fibres are long and strong resulting in a minimum of lint. These long fibres create a resilient thread that won't snap or break under pressure. Because they've begun with the finest fibres, Superior Threads don't need to add nasty chemical coating to the thread to make it less linty or stronger. This is a real plus for machine quilters. Strong, low lint thread means a cleaner sewing machine and less down time for us. This gives machine quilters more time for doing what we love best.

By the way, mind the label. Some threads claim to be Egyptian cotton but they're grown in Brazil. The extra-long staple Egyptian cotton in the King Tut range really does come from Egypt. Now all those funny names like Pyramids, Sands of Time, Oasis and Pharaoh's Treasure begin to make sense.